Posted by chicagomedia.org on January 09, 2009 at 23:04:10:
In Reply to: AT&T To Launch In-Car Satellite TV Service posted by chicagomedia.org on January 09, 2009 at 23:03:08:
Radio's newest rival -- AT&T
Move over, Sirius XM -- Giant AT&T wants to deliver satellite radio and video to the car.
So Mel Karmazin thought he had the only two FCC-granted national satellite radio licenses? Here comes AT&T at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, with a funny-looking new antenna from RaySat Broadcasting that it says will revolutionize the satellite delivery of content to the car, using buffering circuitry that helps compensate for tunnels and trees. (For an equipment cost of $1,300 and then $28.95 a month, of course.) It's got several dimensions. Like video to the back seat passengers - 22 channels, with content deals already signed with Disney, Discovery Kids, Animal Planet, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network Mobile, USA, Comedy Central, MSNBC, CNN Mobile Live and CNBC. Then there's what AT&T plainly labels as "satellite radio" (sorry, Mel) - 20 music channels to start with, and the capacity to add more. Of course content is still king, and Sirius XM has Howard Stern and all the big-league pro sports sewn up, plus Bob Dylan, Oprah (for now) and lots of others. The new AT&T subscription service is dubbed "CruiseCast." And just as Sirius and XM use rental-car companies to tease potential customers, AT&T has a deal with Avis/Budget. You'll be able to rent a CruiseCast vehicle at select Avis or Budget locations for an extra $8.95 a day or $62.65 a week. Of course, CruiseCast doesn't just threaten Sirius XM - it also aims at traditional terrestrial radio. It's getting mighty crowded inside today's car, isn't it?
AT&T is serious about this satellite-to-car business. And then there could be Verizon or Sprint...
AT&T is importing veteran AT&T Labs exec Mike Grannan to be the COO for CruiseCast, and it's already got an impressive lineup of content partners for its back-seat video (Bravo, Disney, SciFi, USA, ABC, etc.). And the launch is soon - this Spring. Grannan's spent 16 years working on IP delivery of video and as executive director of business development - just what CruiseCast needs. But don't think AT&T is the only phone company that will target you in the cocoon of your car. Verizon or Sprint could jump into this. So could non-phone companies like Google, which wants to make its Android service universal. Heck, even some other car companies are finally emulating GM's OnStar, with this week's announcement by Toyota and Lexus that they want to provide extra phone-based services to the car. The category is generally called "telematics" and it's all trying to compete for attention (and dollars) inside the car.
(Tom Taylor)